I saw the shirts
for the Clothesline Project being hung earlier this week on campus at UCLA, and
I had to pass by the shirts on my way to class everyday this week. When I pass
by I look straight ahead and avoid reading what’s written on those shirts
because the idea of all these people who are hurt by violence makes my heart
ache so much that I wouldn’t be able to compose myself in public if I took the
time to read what’s written on the shirts. But for the sake of extra credit I
decided to walk by the clotheslines to take a look at some of the shirts.
The themes were
recurring: loss of voice, loss of self, loss of dignity, and loss of power
through another person’s domination. What struck me the most though was the concurring
message of all the shirts that the perpetrators were always men; it’s the men who are committing these horrific acts against women. Even the shirts that didn’t have
a “he” pronoun to point out that a man committed the treachery most people
assume that it’s always the woman who is a victim of a man. I tried searching
for a shirt that indicated that a woman violated a man, or even a man violating
another man, but couldn’t find any. It certainly happens, men are violated too
in this world (I’ve sure been told some terrible personal stories from my male
friends who have been raped) but where are the shirts made by men? I went on
The Clothesline Project website online and of course I had stoopidly forgotten
that this was a project started to address the issue of “violence against
women” (as the website states). Ohhhhkay that’s why I didn’t see any shirts
made by men!
Violence against
women is one of the most talked about social issues today and it’s certainly
relieving to hear about all these new projects, organizations, movements
happening to support equality and dignity for women in this patriarchal world!
But what about the men? Why don’t we talk extensively about how masculinity
affects men? How it constrains and limits men from reaching their full
potential? Or rather, why aren’t men speaking up about this? Even if there were
a Clothesline Project for men who have been victims of violence would men
participate?
Before today’s
class I was in my Gender 185 Sex and Money course and we were speaking about
how masculinity affects men in harmful ways, and again I notice that most of
the people in the classroom were females talking about this issue and how the
few men in the class rarely participate in discussions. I would love to see
more men come forward to speak about their issues. I would love to see a
society where we are accepting of the idea that men too are affected negatively
by patriarchy, so that men can feel safe about sharing their vulnerability.
Like I said, it’s so wonderful to see that discrimination against women is
starting to be taken as a very serious topic that needs attention and resolution but
women can’t tackle this problem on their own. Men need to see how patriarchy
also harms men and stand up with
women to make spiritual and social progress.
The divine
masculine has been perverted into patriarchy and I think it’s finally time that
men take on the courage to rebel against this atrocity that has been going on
for too long.
On a side note… Quote of the moment: "If the 19th century
was about ending slavery, and the 20th century was about ending totalitarianism,
the 21st century is about ending the pervasive discrimination and degradation
of women and fulfilling their full rights." –Hillary Rodham Clinton
And also, check out this article about sex trafficked boys The
Forgotten Many: Sex-Trafficked Boys:
http://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/social-justice-sex-trafficking-boys/
-Stephanie
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